In the next few days or weeks, another history could be written in the Kenya Defense Forces, under the reign of President Uhuru Kenyatta, with the expected exit of General Samson Mwathethe, whose term ended last week.
Appointed in 2015 to take over from General Julius Karangi, Mwathethe's reign has been coupled with loss of KDF soldiers on war torn Somalia and the most recent abduction of two Cuban doctors based in Mandera.
In the book Kenya Navy: A 50-year Voyage, which was published in his early months as CDF, Gen Mwathethe promised to get the “bad guys” — in reference to Al-Shabaab terrorists.
“It will be difficult to pin-point outstanding achievements which can be associated with him,” Mr Edward Wanyonyi, a graduate of war studies from King’s College, London, says about the General.
Major-General Fatuma Ahmed, could be the biggest beneficiary of the expected shake up in the military. In 2016, she become the first Kenyan woman to be a Brigadier and two years later, she was promoted to Major-General.
“It is my pride and joy today to launch the first Kenyan woman as a major-general in the republic. I am counting on you to be a role model to the women in this republic and to prove to them that there is no limits for the Kenyan women,” Mr Kenyatta told Maj-Gen Ahmed.
With the Chief of Defense Forces position held on a rotational basis from among Kenya Army, Kenya Air Force and Navy, Mwathethe's replacement would come from Army wing since Karangi was from Air Force.
And as such, Vice Chief of Defense Forces. Lt General Robert Kibochi is at pole position to take over. There are also claims that former National Defense College boss Lt General Leonard Ngondi could be interested. But the odds favour the former.
And with Kibochi's expected promotion, Kenya Air Force Commander Major-General Francis Ogolla would automatically become the next Vice Chief of Defense Forces. This is due to the fact that he's the senior most Air Force man in the military, who is poised to take over from Kibochi, the army man
With such development, Major-General Fatuma Ahmed, given her current position as Assistant Chief of Defense Forces in charge of Logistics and Human resources, would be the replacement of Ogolla as the Air Force Commander.
In such a scenario which is highly expected, Major-General Fatuma Ahmed would become the first woman in Kenya's history to be a force commander. She listed to the military in 1983 as Women Service Cop, a position that was scrapped by General Daudi Tonje in 1997.